Self-Organized Maker Education: Action Research at A Cross-Disciplinary University

Abstract

Fostering soft skills in students has long been the subject of intense research in the wake of the digital revolution. Various research efforts, such as Students as Partners, have also explored the possibilities of involving students as stakeholders in the co-construction of learning environments. Makerspace suitable for individual or group learning enables students to develop their knowledge, skills, and identities as designers, researchers, and/or engineers. However, little self-organized academic makerspace learning takes place at the university level in China, and few attempts have been made to conduct action research on soft skill acquisition based on maker education. This paper reports how a Chinese cross-disciplinary university cultivates the soft skills of graduate students through a series of teaching and learning activities extended from the academic makerspace. The administrative and instructional design of the master's program is analyzed at the macro (university), meso (program), and micro (curriculum) levels. The results from observation and in-depth interviews show that a “Self-organized Maker Education” culture is being built at this cross-disciplinary university, leading to resilience in academic identity formation in the learning process.